Auction Courtesy. Your Thoughts

[LyricaBlues Resident]

(04-02-2015 11:24 PM)Winter Phoenix Wrote:  
Without the social, its just business.

And business is dull.

Perhaps someone should invent a 'business only' auctions,
where friendly stuff is minimized and its strictly timed out.

Those who just want to sell a cat and get the hell out can do so
without having to hang out with a bunch of people they don't want to.

Myself, I prefer to say " HEYYYY WHATS UP!"
and chat the cats with other feline enthusiasts.

Lots of folks cant get out much, and this is their only place to socialize.

So that auction may one of the few places where they get a chance
to visit others who share the same interests.

I wouldn't want to interfere with that ability, so...

Promote a business only auction for those who want such a thing.

I totally agree! and my auctions are nothing if not fun social times spent with friends. I was referring to IMs that distract and have nothing to do with the auctions. I feel like people pay their panel fees to have their cats sold. Local chatter is fun! and we can still keep track of whats going on in the auction. But its different when its Im after Im after Im.

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(04-03-2015 04:02 AM)khloe Wyx Wrote:  I dearly love auctions and the chance to see what is "NEW" out there. It does get distracting to see reams of chat as a kitten is being presented or the BID gets lost amongst a sea of chat lines. I use a simple "Hello everyone" or "thank you". and turn back to listening to the Auctioneer.

And i have that "KINJA blood" so sometimes I just sit quietly and plot my BID. Truly love your auctions. They are well timed, full of information, and you do wonderfully presenting each kitten and its uniqueness.

aww thanks! I do like to do more than just sell...its time spent with friends enjoying what we share in common - breeding! And yeah, i love seeing you at the auctions!

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(04-04-2015 03:40 AM)Mizaki Resident Wrote:  My personal opinion is that it is very nice to see an active auction with people interacting. It is plain boring to just listen to the auctioneer rant on about traits without some personal feel and interaction with their patrons. I don't find it an issue if my panel is up and people are chatting away. A good auctioneer is always capable of steering the auction in the direction they want too anyways I know a few who are good at it.

Hi, and yes! my auctions are very interactive! I wouldnt want it any other way because I often learn as much from my patrons as i try to offer them. I was referring to trying to concentrate on an auction while fielding numerous IMs.

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(04-06-2015 04:32 PM)Arwen Swordthain Wrote:  Personally I have not noticed any of this so called rudeness at auctions, I find them to be very social events, yes sometimes local chat gets a little off course and away from cats but its my experience that the auctioneer can refocus attention easily.
I have fond memories of Mizakis auctions and the amount of laughter there always was from her as well as from the people attending her auctions.
As for IM's I have a lot of friends that are not in KittyCats! are we saying they must not message us during auctions? I frequently chat with other auction goers in IM and have yet to find it distracts me or be tlod by them that it is distracting, to my non kittycats friends I say I'm at an auction, they know this means they are not my main focus at that time.
Local chat cannot be controlled by one person nor can you tell people if they can IM each other, if people don't like it they should take it up with the person distracting them directly. We are all adults after all.
I have heard auctioneers including you Pretty, greet latecomers in voice, I think thats a good thing it welcomes people. In reality there will always be latecomers for whatever reason so unless you want to ban anyone arriving after you Call out the first panel you are going to get people greeting them.
Auctions are social events and are fluid and uncontrollable, just go with the flow and have fun, Auctions start late, auctions over run, people arrive late, people leave early and chat rarely stays focussed on one topic, such is human nature.
The most important reason any of us are here is to have fun, if buying and selling our cats stops being fun we will stop doing it.

LOL omg! I think the main point of my question is being overlooked.. Yes, my auctions are very social and we have a blast and we joke and kid around. But my main concern, raised by patrons who later comment that they were distracted but dont want to be rude by telling the persistent IM'ers that they are there for an auction. As you just said, I do greet and chat and thats as it should be. Its an auction, not library lol. I arrive late to some auctions and when greeted by several, i simple return a greeting to "all" at first. I feel funny about interrupting a panel when this is That cat's time to shine, not mine. Thats all that I do when i arrive. To each his own, but I raised the question based not just on my own spin on this, but on the feedback i get from patrons and how I feel when barraged with IMs when I am there for an auction. My friends can chat me up, and they do, but unless its important i rather concentrate in the cats that i am interested in and not miss bids because of a chatty friend.

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(04-04-2015 10:08 PM)Nocshadue Balbozar Wrote:  I've been to auctions in the past where a timer was actually set per panel and it was dismal. NO talk was allowed in local once the auction began, not even comments or questions about the cat being sold. There were a lot of no sales as not enough time was given for potential buyers to really consider whether to bid or not, or get into their own pedigree to check on a potential partner etc, and those that did sell went for the opening bid and many were worth much more. I never went back. That was a while ago and it's not around anymore.

A good auctioneer allows for some randomness, has fun, but always steers the auction back on track. I'd say, if you want to sell at a kitty auction, and you want a chance for you cat to sell well, go with the flow. Now if you're getting a lot of unrelated personal IMs, I think a polite "I'm really interesting in the auction right now but would love to chat when it's over." would suffice. I don't think that would offend anyone wanting to chat you up in IM.

I do agree though that if things are getting really out of hand, the auctioneer should take control of the situation. I've only seen things get bad a few time but that was from a group of griefers showing up so it wasn't "kitty people" causing a problem.

I've often showed up late and been greeted in the midst of a panel. The auctioneer usually say hi once I ask what panel they are on, then a few others, but the overall interruption is brief. I also chat in IM with a few friends if I see them, though if they don't reply, or it takes a while for them to reply I don't get bent out of shape and visa versa.

thank you!! You got the spirit of my question! And you reponse shows perfect balance. Thank you, i agree with you wholeheartedly!